Beyond the Limits of Darkness and Light
by Valior
Summary: It is 525 BBY, over 500 years before the Fall of the Republic to Emperor Palpatine. The Sith are believed extinct, and the Jedi the sole masters of the Force. But far away from Coruscant, a lone Jedi Knight hunts for a young woman whom he believes will shatter that ancient idea that the Jedi have won the war of Light and Darkness. Rated M for later lemons, some violence.
1. Chapter 1

A/C: _Hello FanFiction! I've been off the grid for some time now ever since my last story that I published years ago in the Naruto section, however it's not because I ever lost interest in writing: I've actually ramped up my writing and I've been practicing more then I ever have. I've been improving and refining and I've decided to put some of my work back out there. I hope you'll notice it as you read this story._

_Anyway. Despite my last fanfics being in the anime section, my true passion has always been for fantasy and science fiction (I am a die-hard geek and gamer), so I'm going to be doing more work here in the future. I've got multiple other things in the works at the moment, however for now I'd like to see what the community thinks of this. So, leave a review and tell me what you think: it's what keeps the updates flowing and it's what will motivate me to finish. So, enjoy Beyond the Limits of Darkness and Light._

**Chapter One**

**Date**: Primeday 4, Month 3, 525 BBY, Galactic Standard Calendar  
**Location**: Mos Eisley, Tatooine, Tatoo system

Jalian stirred his blue-green... drink, if it could be called that, with the black stick that supposedly came with it. He didn't really care about what it was, he had just ordered the same thing the Sullustan sitting three stools down from him had ordered. It made him less conspicuous that way. He wasn't sure of the liquids contents, but something told him that it was probably made, at least in part, from one of the multitude of alien's bodily fluids that hung about in a cantina as washed up as this one.

Jalian blended in well in places like these: even though he hated his outfit. His traditional tree-bark garments were far too recognizable, even in a place dubbed the 'Armpit of the Galaxy', and he had been forced to leave them on his ship, parked in a nearby spaceport. Instead, he wore a lighter brown leather jacket with a collar, black pants, a pair of black boots and a belt that housed a Mandalorian-made blaster. The lack of simplicity of the garb and the fact that it screamed 'smuggler' like a banshee made it ineffectual for his line of work, even though it made him look like a bystander in the cantina.

Jalian turned his ocean-blue eyes to the door to see his contact: a tall, green Trandoshan dressed in the gear of a bounty hunter, enter the cantina. The reptilian alien walked through the stares of the other humanoids in the cantina (Trandoshans didn't often frequent arid planets like Tatooine), and approached Jalian, his neutral, tooth-filled maw hanging slightly open. Jalian gestured to the seat next to him, and as the huge alien sat down, Jalian ordered a second drink, this one a hot-fuchsia colour, and pushed it in front of his contact, who gripped it in his three-clawed huge hand and promptly poured the drink down his throat, some of the liquid dribbling down his scaled chin, which his blood-red tongue snaked out and slurped up.

"Scch krraak ti gola nict ala" the Trandoshan said in his native Dosh dialect, as he was unable to speak Basic, despite the fact that Jalian knew he could comprehend it.

Jalian pulled a white, unmarked envelope that was stuffed from his leather pocket and slid it in front of the Trandoshan. The alien looked at it before opening it with a single, razor-sharp claw and peeked inside, spying several large, golden credit chips: a small fortune in their own right. The Trandoshan nodded approvingly and slid the envelope into his pocket. "Jakk nr?" it asked.

"We'll start with what you know about her" Jalian said, and watched as his contact produced an item of his own from his pocket: a photo of a young woman, barely in her twenties, standing at the entrance to a Coruscant building and her features partially obscured by the black robe that she wore. Jalian studied the photo, barely able to make out her facial appearance, but then again, Trandoshans had far better eyesight then humans.

"Truan killisk, nogar dura Kara" the Trandoshan explained, looking at the photo with one of his slitted pupils. "Gagaran kajabba duro kraan, aye hronj ffra dro"

Jalian narrowed his eyes as the Trandoshan pointed to the woman in the photo, his large, white claw tapping her midsection as Jalian saw a slight breach in the black of her robe: a slight line of silver that would have been unrecognizable to anyone else. The photo was of substandard quality, what one would expect from a Coruscant security camera, though Jalian could still make it out and had seen enough of those weapons that he placed it immediately: a lightsaber.

He turned to look at his contact, who was looking back at him, waiting for a response. "When was this taken?" he asked, receiving another glance from the Trandoshan, as he turned the photo over to see the imprinted date: Zhellday 2, Month 3, 525 BBY. Just over a week ago. Jalian narrowed his eyes further as he now had a clear depiction of his quarry.

"Where was she the last you saw her?" Jalian asked, looking at the photo with the eyes of a hawk.

"Bespin, Heer Ikk" the Trandoshan said, the name of the planet holding true through both of their languages. "Gor aak noras kajahadu"

Jalian nodded, stroking his well-trimmed brown beard that framed his jaw and mouth. "That's all, hmm? Is there any reason she would leave Bespin? Do you know why she was there?"

The Trandoshan thought for a moment, his huge, predatory eyes staring into space before speaking. "Krriish lok arak nrriin ggor aye bruuda, lirak noc zzren Bespin" he answered.

Jalian nodded. So she was there to erase her footprints: he needed to catch her before she left the planet and disappeared forever. "Your assistance has been much appreciated" Jalian said to the Trandoshan, smiling briefly and nodding once before buying him another drink, leaving the bartender a decent tip and getting up from his seat, taking the photo of the woman with him and placing it, folded, in his jacket inner pocket.

Jalian was exiting the bar as a large Aqualish stood in his way, a vibrosword attached to his back. Jalian tried to step around the tall, tusked alien but the creature moved to block him, and Jalian sighed: another holdup. Wonderful.

Right on cue, Jalian turned around to see a human, oddly enough, walk up to him, the man wearing the logo of the Black Sun crime syndicate on his chest and carrying two blasters at his hip, as well as numerous other weapons Jalian bet he had concealed in his clothes somewhere, and two large Gamorreans moved to flank him, vibroaxes strapped to their belts. Jalian could see just by looking at him that he couldn't trick this one, so this was bound to go only one way.

"I assure you, gentlemen, I have barely any credits and no valuables on me. Lets not turn this into a regrettable situation" Jalian said in a calm voice, raising his hands.

"Don't bullshit me, smuggler, I see it all the time from your kind" the leader said, Jalian pleased that his garb had worked. "Hand over everything you've got, like you just gave your lizard friend, or you'll find yourself with a vibroblade in your gut"

"Like I said, I'm afraid I don't have anything" Jalian repeated, readying himself: this was going to get real ugly real fast. "Now back off".

"Well then I guess that's just too bad for you" the leader said, and pulled one of the blasters from his hip and pointed it at Jalian's gut, pulling the trigger.

But the blaster was gone, flying from his hand before he could get off his killing shot. Jalian looked smug, a light smile touching his lips being the only movement he had seemed to have made, and the gangster sneered, pulling a vibroknife from his pocket and shouting "Get this punk!" to his allies before thrusting the blade at Jalian's gut again.

And again, Jalian wasn't there. A micro-instant before the blade touched his skin, Jalian had placed his hands on the leader's shoulder and pushed himself away, ducking the head-swipe from the Aqualish's sword behind him that he knew was coming and dancing away from the four, removing himself from being in the center of all of them. All activity had stopped in the cantina as they saw Jalian slowly backing away from the four thugs, no weapons in his hand despite the blaster at his hip.

The leader snarled and signaled his men to advance, thrusting the knife at Jalian again but before it could make contact, a glowing, iridescent beam of sapphire appeared from nowhere and sent the knife falling to the floor.

As well as the gangster's hand.

He screamed in pain as the searing sensation of plasma cauterized the wound and all the nerve endings between the wrist and his severed hand, clutching it as one of the greatest pains he had ever felt gripped his body like an inescapable vice. He fell to the ground, moaning in pain as Jalian stood over him, a look of seriousness on his face and his lightsaber in his right hand.

He raised the sapphire blade toward the three other thugs, stepping over the writhing body of their boss. The Gamorreans squealed, their piggish faces contorting in fear, and the Aqualish snarled, gripping his vibrosword and drawing it. Jalian sighed inside his head, though his gaze of severity intensified on the tusked alien.

"I'm not going to warn you again, friend" Jalian said in his smooth, Corellian voice. "Back down, and nobody else has to get hurt".

Jalian sensed it an instant later, a slight shift in the Force, a warning. He spun on his left heel just in time to avoid a vibroknife embedding itself in his ankle from the downed leader he had dispatched a moment ago. Jalian evaded the swipe, as well as a weak follow-up slash by the disarmed gangster before stepping on his still-attached hand, causing him to drop the knife, which the Jedi promptly kicked away. Before the gangster could even look to see where the weapon went, Jalian sent a whisper through the Force, causing the leader's eyes to roll back into his head as he fell unconscious.

He heard a grunt of anger and another shift in the Force, sidestepping out of the way just in time to avoid an over-headed slash by the Aqualish's long vibrosword. The alien tried to bring the blade to the side to cut Jalian in half, but his hand caught the Aqualish's wrists, and using the Force to amplify his strength, twisted hard, breaking both joints. The weapon fell to the ground, the alien who had held it grunting and howling in pain as Jalian raised his palm and sent a pulse of pure energy through the Force toward the gangster, sending him flying six meters back and into the hard-dirt wall of the cantina, knocking him out.

The Gamorreans, barely smart enough to play Sabbacc without breaking the rules in ignorance, were intelligent enough to recognize a Jedi, and squealed as they ran off from the scene. Jalian looked around to see the amazed gazes of the patrons, most of whom were nervous (easily understandable), and rested his serious expression, taking on a neutral one as he deactivated his lightsaber and placed the weapon inside his jacket. Jalian watched the piggish aliens run out of the cantina, and didn't pursue, instead walking out a different exit, ignoring the stares of the troubled customers.

Rethor walked into the streets of Mos Eisley as if nothing had just happened, blending in fine with the crowd of various species walking the streets of the desert city. He walked toward the spaceport where his ship was docked, removing the photo of the woman he had been given from his pocket and looking at it, studying her features.

Kara. A fitting name, Jalian thought, as he scanned the photo. He had seen the word mentioned in several old Jedi texts, and loosly translated to 'shadow among light'. She certainly fit the attire of one of them, at least going by what he'd read in the archives of the Jedi council. If he hadn't been able to see the lightsaber clearly on her hip, he'd have had his suspicions as to her identity, but with it there, there was little doubt.

Jalian continued towards the spaceport, narrowing his eyes as he drew closer to his target. Of course, he'd have to see that blade in action to be 100% certain of who she was. And that was something he planned on happening soon. Very soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Time**: Centaxday 4, Month 3, 525 BBY, Galactic Standard Calendar  
**Location**: Cloud City, Bespin, Bespin system

Kara opened her eyes, staring at the white ceiling of her hotel room for a moment, contemplating. A second later, she blinked lazily, sitting upright and placing her hands on the soft mattress to support herself. She honestly didn't know what Novaplex, the corporation that made this hotel, was thinking, making every single room brighter then Bespin's sun so that when she woke up, it was like shining a flashlight into her eyes. Kara slid out of bed, stretching the muscles in her arms and legs and walking towards the closet.

Kara looked at herself in the mirror adorning the doors of the closet, admiring her bell-curve form. Her training had kept her in shape, leaving very little excess fat on her body and instead replacing it with well-toned muscle that didn't marr the surface of her skin, leaving her looking slender, strong and her skin smooth. Besides that, her body had come out on the high end of the genetics seesaw, possessing a pair of 36D breasts and her jawline and cheeks appear well-maintained but not so crude as to be chiseled. Kara shook her raven-black hair out of its bedhead, using her fingers as a rudimentary comb to make it look a little more civilized, looking at her own reflection and her own, bright violet eyes.

She decided that due to the wide range of travelers in a place like Cloud City, that her standard outfit was alright. She threw on her undergarments followed by her black pants and tunic, made of moderately hard leather so as not to restrict her movement, then slid on her ebon boots and gloves, finishing off with her overly long hooded black robes on top. Kara fixed her hair and touched up her face (more then one time had her life been saved by her appearance, she mused), and finally walked to the bed and extended a hand towards the pillow she hadn't slept on, tapping into the Force. A second later, the ebon-black hilt of a lightsaber flew from underneath the pillow and into her hand.

Kara had a special bond to her weapon: she had constructed it under her master's orders, but she had to gather the materials herself. She remembered with fondness slipping into Ilum's ice caves to steal her color crystal, even deciding she didn't want a normal crystal and sneaking into the lower caves that had heavier security and taking one of ones that were off-limits even to Jedi. She remembered salvaging her power cell and her energizers from scrapyards on Coruscant, evading guards and salvage droids for days. It was most likely the most fun that she'd ever had.

And the result was this elegant, powerful weapon. The hilt was straight and was more or less uniform in its width from the top to bottom, as were most standard lightsabers, but Kara had incorporated her own style into it, adding four protruding spikes from the tip of the emitter that circled the blade when it was activated, as well as four more spikes on the bottom to make the hilt seem more symmetrical. The spikes also served as a close-quarters weapon for stabbing when lightsaber blades became too cumbersome. The hilt was decorated with ancient symbols of the Force that her master had made her study from ancient holocrons, and said things that reflected her nature as the master of the weapon. The handle of the blade was wrapped in bantha leather that had been scarred with intricate designs to heighten her grip ability, and the rest of the hilt had twisting, chaotic designs that highlighted the ancient symbols carved into the blade. The hilt had been painted mostly black, but Kara had highlighted it with purple designs as a secondary colour to add her own flare. The weapon truly was an extension of herself, and she loved it.

Kara attached the clip of the lightsaber to her hip and left the room, leaving her key at the front desk along with a credit chip that covered her stay (she had already mentioned she was leaving early). She left the hotel building, putting her hood up and eyeing the cameras that lined the streets of the Cloud City concourse. The city, when it was first constructed, was divided into levels, as originally it was, and still was, a gas mining colony that had come to be a populated city. The top levels, as they had come to be, had become citizen areas and tourist locales, populated mostly by hotels, restaurants and casinos. The mid-levels contained residential housing (some of them were some of the priciest apartments in the Outer Rim) and the administrative offices. And the lower levels were home to all the industrial aspects of the city: gas refineries, industrial plants, miners quarters and work areas, and all of the equipment that kept the colossal city afloat above Bespin's inhabitable gaseous core.

Kara was honest with herself: she felt out of place. The Concourse of Bespin was mostly populated with high rollers and rich gangsters: the sights out of a window in the floating city at sundown were amazing and the city itself had become sort of the token luxury planet of the Outer Rim, and thus the hotels got away with charging murderous prices. Most of the men were wearing jackets over finely tailored clothing or suits, and the women were wearing fur or luxurious coats over dressed that either partially revealed leg, breast or midriff, and mostly all three. Kara had left during sundown, when she wouldn't be missed and could slip into the crowd. It wasn't easy to navigate the concourse of Cloud City even though she'd spent many years living in it, but eventually she managed to find her way down a walkway to the residential levels, and slip aboard a service elevator that carried her down through Cloud City's levels, and with it, out of the pomp and fancy of civilization.

Kara looked out the glass elevator shaft to see the grime of her destination, and what was essentially a huge cluster of loading and docking bays for freighter ships. The walls that set up the boundaries for the colossal area looked more like towers, possessing windows all along their length and large to small sized loading doors at their base. Kara knew that those towers led up into the upper levels and supplied the more legitimate customers with everything they needed. There was plenty of signs of exploded and wrecked freighters: often smugglers or gangsters raided the freighters, but since security had bitten off more then they could chew by trying to run this place, one or two raids still got by every month or so. Then again, Port Town wasn't exactly a location where order got a good rap.

Port Town was essentially the Mos Eisley of Bespin: seedy, backwater and a haven for people who had prices hovering over their heads. Kara had been here a handful of times, more then once to hire bounty hunters, who liked to offer their services in the couple of cantinas down here, and she had dealed with smugglers, who sold everything from stolen Republic goods to Twi'lek slave girls. She guessed that at least 80% of all the underworld connections that she had and maintained probably originated in these loading bays.

Kara stepped off the elevator, making sure her hood was raised (being an open, alone female down here was akin to asking to be kidnapped and have a shock collar thrown on your neck for a few decades) and walking across the huge expanse of Port Town. She looked down from the elevated surface the elevator stood on and narrowed her eyes under her hood, spying a man standing on one of the docks shouting and waving his arms. Kara walked down the ramp, careful not to attract attention, and walked to the end of the dock, standing behind the angry man who still hadn't ceased his shouting.

"Gaeta I DO NOT GIVE A FUCK how fragile they are!" the man screamed at a Sullustan who was in the midst of using a loader to get crates off of a cargo freighter. "Get the goddamn necklaces off the ship before I throw you down an air shaft!" Kara sighed slightly and tapped the mans shoulder, who turned around immediately.

"Yeah, what is it?" he snapped, trying to observe his crew unloading his cargo while still attempting to make eye contact with Kara.

"I'm looking for a man named William Sual" Kara said in a polite voice, looking at the man's eyes under her hood. "Ever heard of him?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sorry, can't help ya" the man said, and turned back to his crew. "LEX!" he yelled again, turning to another human who was loading crates onto a hovercart by himself. "Where the hell is Dern!? Tell him to stop flirting with the bar girls and to get his ass over here!"

Kara huffed lightly and lightly grabbed the man's shoulder. "Don't try to pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm looking for Sual and I know you know where he is"

The man scoffed and turned to Kara for the first time fully. "Look sweet cheeks" he started, making Kara narrow her eyes and contemplate pushing him off the dock. Here comes the condescension. "Sual doesn't like people just dropping in on him, and even if you did manage to get a meeting with him, he isn't exactly catering to girls who want a couple of nude videos erased from their ex's holo" the man said, with a mockingly sad look on his face. Kara resisted the urge to kill him.

Instead, she tapped, merely tapped, into the Force and spoke again. "I'm an old friend of William. I need a few things wiped from the Cloud City databanks and I'm hoping that he can give me a hand"

The man coughed into his hand and slapped his chest a few times before responding. "I told ya honey. Sual doesn't see anyone he doesn't have an appointment with, so why don't..." the man coughed again "you just run back upstairs and go back to playing house"

Kara pulled a little more from the Force and replied. "If you won't show me where Sual is, I'll find him myself. Either way, I'm going to get what I want, and if you don't help me, someone else will"

The man tried to respond, but his eyes widened as his breathing got hoarse. Kara watched as he wheezed and coughed, gasping for breath. Kara flexed her fingers a little closer to a fist inside her robe sleeve that was out of sight, increasing the pressure that was around his esophagus through the Force. The man dropped to a knee, one of his hands scratching at his throat vainly before looking at her weakly and eyes full of contempt.

"You ready to cooperate now?" Kara asked in a smooth voice, smug smile on her lips. The man was about to spit at her when Kara narrowed her eyes, smile still touching her lips as she doubled the pressure around his throat. The man gasped and sputtered for air, scratching his throat like an animal before he tried to nod as best he could, and Kara let out her breath subtly, releasing the pressure. He fell to the durasteel dock, coughing up a fit, and Kara stood over him, waiting patiently. A minute later, the man stood up, massaging his throat and pure fear in his eyes as he pointed to the entrance of one of the couple of cantinas in Port Town.

"Th-thirty-fourth floor. Door at the end of the hall" the man said, still trying to get his breath back. "Knock three times fast, once slow, then twice fast" he said, knees practically knocking together. Kara was laughing inside: she loved breaking pathetic tough guys.

She smiled and nodded. "Thank you for your assistance" she said, and turned away from the man, walking off the dock with a flutter of her black robes. Kara soon entered the cantina, spending no time looking at the dozens of men of all species who glanced at her as she entered, and instead headed straight for the back of the bar and the secret elevator, which was guarded by a grumpy-looking wookie wearing mercenary armor. Kara's eyes flashed red for a moment as she tapped into the Force and the wookie groaned in fear, stepping aside and letting her pass. Kara stepped into the elevator and pressed the button, the durasteel elevator box shooting upwards.

The doors opened a few seconds later and Kara stepped out, walking down the hall unceremoniously. The door at the end of the hall was made of laroon wood, reflecting its prestige, and Kara knocked exactly as the man on the dock had instructed her. The door opened, and a tall, burly man stood before Kara, his expression neutral.

"I'm here to see William" Kara said simply "We're old friends and I have a favour to ask of him". The man didn't move for a moment, as if in thought, but Kara heard a minor buzz and the man cocked his head, Kara realizing he was listening to his earpiece. A moment later, the buzz stopped. The man said nothing, pushing the door wide and motioning for her to follow him with a beckoning finger. Kara silently followed the man into the apartment, which was beautifully decorated: she would have expected a greedy hutt to live in a place similar to this.

The man lead her into the main room, which dominated at least a quarter of the entire apartment. The far wall, which was covered by glass, looked out over Port Town, and stood higher then the elevator she came down on did. The office-like room had computers and flat screens everywhere, each in a different state of running through lines of code, surveillance through a camera or maps of Cloud City. The furniture was beautiful, and even more so was the (again) laroon wood desk that sat at the back of the room, with a chair behind it that was turned away from her.

The man who escorted her gestured towards the chair for a moment, inviting her to step forward, and then turned around, stepping back towards the door and standing there with another large man to act as a bodyguard. Kara looked at the chair as it turned to face her, and a man sat in the chair, who stood up upon seeing her. He was a little taller then her, with black tousled hair, brown eyes and a clean shaven face with some minor chops on the side. He was cute in a way, Kara could admit, although for someone in her... profession she guessed, attaching herself to people wasn't a good idea.

"Well, well, well..." the man started, a broad smile breaking out over his face as he opened his arms. "If it isn't little Kari all grown up!" he said, using her childhood nickname, which she would have killed anyone else for using had he not been her friend.

"Hello Will" Kara said calmly, her lips curving into a warm, yet small, smile as she closed her eyes.

"Well look at you, all dressed up for me. I'm flattered" William said, chuckling heartily and acting more like a hearty, friendly uncle then an old friend. "You leave town for a few years and come back as a big girl: I must be getting old"

Kara forced a smile. "I need your help Will" she said briefly, lowering her hood for the first time since she left the hotel and revealing her face.

"Of course" William said, and looked at the guards briefly before pushing them towards the door. The two men left, closing the double doors behind them, and William sat back down, rubbing his hands together. "I have to say Kari: you up and leave here a few years back and I didn't get one goodbye card. Part of me thought that you'd been taken by Black Sun or another unsavory bunch of beings too much like myself for my liking"

"I can take care of myself Will. Now more so then I was a kid" Kara stated, her eyes flashing at the mild condescension.

"So I see, judging by that weapon on your hip" Will said, his head giving a slight nod to indicate her lightsaber as he slowly rocked back and forth in his chair. "So, how can I help a Jedi in her hour of need?"

"I need you to hack into the Cloud City government files" Kara explained to her former friend.

"And do what?" Will asked.

"Delete every record of me. Birth certificate, criminal, employment and government records. Erase anything and everything about me" Kara said.

William smiled. "Not the most uncommon request I get, but its up there"

"Can you do it?" Kara pressed.

"That depends".

"On what?".

"Well usually I would say how many credits you're willing to pony up, but in this case, I have need of someone with your level of skill" William explained, reaching behind his desk and placing a bottle of bronze-gold liquid on the desk. Kara recognized it as Correlian Reserve, probably one of the rarest brandies in the galaxy, as William took two glasses from behind his desk.

"My level of skill?" Kara asked while holding up her hand at William offering her the empty glass, the man putting the second one back into his desk. "You've got more money then several Hutts I could name. Why not just hire a bounty hunter?"

William poured a small amount of the brandy into the glass, taking a sip and savoring the drink before swallowing quickly. "Well I wouldn't need you if most of the hunters here weren't incompetents" he said, shrugging. "The facts are that most are only willing to operate inside Cloud City because the guards are lousy in a fight. I can't tell you how many are simply unemployed thugs who have a blaster and a few wrist rockets"

"Fair enough" Kara admitted. Half the hunters she had seen in her life were lousy, that was true (the other half, not so). "Care to elaborate on what you need help with?"

William stood up, brandy glass in hand as he paced behind his desk. "There's a man named Jarro Sken operating in Cloud City. He was a small-time smuggler until he hit a break thanks a big job for a crime lord, and had the credits to start up his own operation within the city: smugglers, spice rings, illegal weapons, a few slaves."

William stopped pacing, looking at Kara directly, who still had a neutral expression. "Sken's tiny empire inside the city annoys me. He's arrogant and aggressive: two things that I don't care for in a criminal, and he's putting a stain on the name of civilized crime"

"You want me to kill a crime boss simply because he annoys you?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow at his pettiness.

"That's about 30% of the reason" Will admitted, taking another sip of his brandy and going back to pacing. "The other 70 is that if there's one thing I've seen in my years in crime, its that the faster that bosses grow their empires, the more ambitious, and paranoid, they become. I need his operation eliminated before he strays into my territory and becomes too troublesome to kill"

"Something tells me there's more" Kara said, narrowing her amethyst orbs.

"You have good instincts" William said with a smile. "Killing Sken won't suffice because criminal organizations aren't exactly organisms: cutting off the head will just make another one grow back if the ring is profitable enough. You need to wipe out his entire operation, which is based in a production plant on one of the lower levels." William explained, sliding a small chip that, presumably, contained the location. "It houses his main production facility, loading bays, storage and the head offices, including Sken's own. Take that down, and his operation will crumble inside of a week."

"And if I do this?" Kara asked.

Will raised his glass, winking. "I'll do as you ask. Every record that even mentions you inside the Cloud City governmental files: erased" William promised, taking another sip. "No muss, no fuss".

Kara considered. "You have a deal" she confirmed with a nod, raising her hood as the black-robed woman turned on her heel. "I'll be back soon"

"Good to hear" William said with a smile, finishing off his brandy as Kara headed toward the exit. "Oh, and if you don't mind me asking Kari, why exactly do you want to disappear from the grid?"

The robed woman stopped for a moment, slightly turning back to her old friend. "Actually I do mind" she said simply, pushing the double doors wide and leaving the room.

William stared at the door for a moment before pouring himself another glass of Reserve, staring out the window and looking out over Port Town. Hmm.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three  
****Time**:Centaxday 4, Month 3, 525 BBY, Galactic Standard Calendar  
**Location**: Upper Orbit, Bespin, Bespin system

The space in Bespin's orbit suddenly twisted and distorted in a mild fashion as a ship emerged from hyperspace. The Class-1 _Lightflare_ drive slowly reduced its rotation speed as the ship reduced itself from its standard hyperlight speed of 100,000 times the speed of light to its normal sublight velocity. Its engines, also _Lightflare _brand, flared as the ship slowed from its insane hyperlight speed, the navcomputer on the ship's bridge sending them data on where to head next. The ship was coloured blue-white, painted uniquely by the owner, and was emblazoned with ancient symbols that could be recognized only by a member of the Jedi Order.

Jalian brought on the coolant to calm the hyperdrive as he left hyperspace in his ship. It had been provided for him by the Jedi Council upon his promotion to Jedi Master, and quite honestly, the ship almost made him as content as achieving the rank did. He had selected it personally when he had been promoted, forgoing a larger cruiser vessel and instead going for maneuverability, stealth and speed over majesty and power. It was an odd choice for a Jedi Master, and Jalian was already odd in the eyes of the other Jedi: he had refused his seat on the Jedi High Council when it was offered, stating that he preferred to act as a lone wolf then as a collective. Not that he disregarded the values of unity, but simply that he believed he could achieve more victories more often as a single entity.

The ship was still powerful, despite its relatively small size. It was a Corvette-class, about the size of a small freighter, that Jalian had extensively modified and upgraded himself to create a personalized and powerful transport-attack craft. The diplomacy room that had come with the ship had been turned into a practice room that Jalian used to meditate and hone his lightsaber tactics and filled with combat droids, various weapons and targets. The small conference room had been refitted as a brig, with area mostly being a cell that was equipped with powerful plasma restraints that could be modified to suppress the wearer's ability to use the Force. Of course, the engine room had received dozens of upgrades to its thruster capacity, turn rate, hyperspace speed and overall dexterity of the ship. The only two rooms that had actually been kept relatively close to how they had at first been were the bedroom and the bridge, both of which Jalian saw no need to change or upgrade (though he modified the bridge to accommodate one pilot instead of two).

Jalian pushed the throttle forward as he took the ship into Bespin's lower atmosphere and down to the level of his destination: Cloud City. The Corvette moved quickly, and within a few moments, he could spy the distant, oddly shaped dot that was the floating colony. His ship's radar pinged as two Cloud Cars came up on his flanks, ready to escort him in to the city.

"This is Cloud City Patrol" the transmission came over his radio, speaking in a mild accent; Jalian guessed Tatoo. "Please transmit your starship identification and intent of visit"

Jalian opened his ship's holocomputer and hit the transmit button, sending his Jedi recognition codes, however he omitted his reason for coming to the city, sending a false motive instead. The last thing he needed was someone spying on a spy. A moment later, the Cloud Cars broke off his flanks.

"Thank you Master Jedi. You are cleared into the main starport, hangar 15C" the patrol cars said over the wireless, and pulled away to go intercept another ship.

Jalian took the ship off of autopilot as he pulled up on the city, admiring its size. The city had only been built a century ago and already it had become a staple for Outer Rim tourism. And not an infamy like Mos Eisley: Cloud City had an excellent reputation as a vacation spot, and more recently, people from Coruscant had started coming here during the holidays. Jalian, unlike the Alderaanian politicians and Correlian lawyers, was here for more important reasons.

Jalian pulled the Corvette over the hangar, slowly dropping in to the circular area. He engaged the landing gear as the ship touched onto the durasteel floor, and got up from his seat as the ship's computer handled powering down. Jalian walked down the main causeway, dusting off his tree-bark brown robes (he was glad to be out of that irritating smugglers outfit) and ducked as he exited the ship. Jalian left the hangar through the exit and headed for dock control, his goal already in mind.

A tanned, young woman sat at the desk, looking at a holo-screen and wearing a headset. Jalian approached the desk and leaned on it with an arm, waiting for her to notice him, however her involvement in whatever she was doing made that difficult. Jalian cleared his throat, loudly.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, obviously annoyed.

"I'm looking for someone who came by here a few days ago" Jalian explained calmly. "Goes by the name of Kara: would you know anything about that?"

The woman turned back to her screen and hit a few keys, the search results appearing. "Sorry sir, nobody by that name has docked a ship here"

Jalian expected this. "I see. Well, since you're wired into the Cloud City patrol network, if she attempts to leave, from this starport or otherwise, please let me know immediately" he asked politely.

"Sir I can't simply notify anyone of when someone else attempts to leave the city" the woman responded, arrogantly.

"Miss, I'm on business as a matter of Republic security and as a member of the Jedi Order" Jalian said, his impatience rising. "I'll ask again if you could let me know immediately if she attempts to leave the city, from this star-"

"Sir, regulations prevent me from giving you that information, whether or not you're a Jedi" the woman repeated. "If you want me to authorize that, you'll have to get a statement from an official officer in the Cloud City patrol"

Jalian sighed and looked away. Bureaucrats. He turned back to the desk, this time letting the Force into his voice. "You will let me know if this woman tries to leave the city immediately"

The woman blinked a few times, looking at the Jedi oddly. "I will let you know if this woman tries to leave the city immediately" she repeated.

"Excellent, I appreciate your help" Jalian said, a smile touching his lips as he handed her a chip with his holofrequency on it. The woman took the chip blankly and Jalian stepped away from the desk, leaving the starport promptly. He probably shouldn't have done that; he could see the glare on his late Master's face already. Oh well.

He stopped in the entranceway to the starport, observing the street in front of him. Night was beginning to set on Cloud City, and if Kara was going to leave, now would be the time to do it. He'd need to catch her before then.

Jalian pulled out his datapad as he walked and checked it, opening the data package that his Trandoshan contact had sent him. While his contact had only a little information on Kara, he had managed to gather from the Cloud City database that she'd been born here, and had connections inside a local smuggler and gangster ring. Jalian had managed to glean from the package as well as local word that most of the smuggling rings operated out of Port Town, a series of drydocks in the lower levels of the City.

With that in mind, he wasted no time. The Jedi's eyes flashed and he looked into a corner, spying a service gate with a guard in front of it. He walked over and his fingers twitched under his sleeves as he approached the man, who blinked a few times and proceeded to punch in the code for him. Jalian nodded once and stepped through the gate, entering a nearby service elevator. He pressed the button for the lower levels and felt the elevator fall like a rock as it shot towards the industrial sector.

* * *

Jarro Sken watched the purple Twi'lek girl dance in front of him, his eyes fixed on the silver-black bikini that hid her breasts from his eyes. Another piece of silver-black silk and metal covered her nether regions but barely concealed her ass. All in all, she was incredibly sexy. He loved the Twi'lek girls: they were beautiful, subservient and made excellent dancers (plus if you stroked their lekku in a certain way, you could get them to climax nearly instantly). Every gangster's dream slaves, the Twi'lek were.

This one had these smooth, twisting patterns tattooed on her lekku that made her look exotic and sexy, and combined with her interesting, smooth dance style, Jarro felt himself harden inside his pants and his arousal grow. He wanted to throw her down and fuck her into submission right now, but she was going to be off for the core systems soon enough (more than a few Alderaanian nobles had paid for dancers and sex slaves, as Jarro had learned), and plunging himself into her until she screamed would damage the merchandise. He was already turning a profit of 250,000 credits for her, and he didn't want to lose that value. Besides: the man who was buying her wanted her virginity intact for a reason.

Jarro stood up from the chair, his pants tenting uncomfortably. He waved the girl off and she stopped dancing, holding her hands in front of her and hanging her head in shame.

"You'll do your owner well sweetie" Jarro said with a poisonous smile. He admitted it: scaring slaves was fun. "Don't let me down now".

He jerked his head and the girl walked back out the door with a furious blush on her cheeks, where a large, dark-skinned man put his arm around her shoulders and took her away. He lamented only for a moment before he took a drink from the bottle of wine on the table and sat at his desk, closing his eyes.

A knock alerted him and he turned around to see a huge Morgukai standing in the doorway. He was tall, standing at well over two meters high, with his short horns sharpened to deadly points and his hardened skull quite apparent. His strength was obvious given his stature, possessing muscles that Jarro had seen rip durasteel from a wall without pause and could crush bone. He wore neither boots nor gloves, allowing his sharpened toes and claws to breath and be used as weapons, and he was dressed in the attire of a mercenary, despite his station.

"Update from the docks, Jarro" the Morgukai said in a rumbling bass (tinted with a bit of an inner core accent that made him sound quite articulate, oddly), walking into the office and removing a datapad from his jacket pocket.

"What's the word?" Jarro asked, standing up and taking another drink from the bottle.

"The senators' shipment is almost ready" the being replied, reading off the datapad that he handed to Jarro promptly. "We received the rendezvous coordinates fifteen minutes ago and the boys are loading on the merchandise as we speak. Skids up in ten minutes."

Jarro nodded and a smile touched his lips. "Excellent" he said smoothly, quite pleased. He reviewed the order on the datapad briefly (mostly jewelry and royal clothes that Jarro's syndicate had raided off a Corellian freighter a while ago, however there was also some nice pottery and three slave girls, two Twi'lek and a human) and tallied it all up to just short of a couple million credits; more than satisfactory.

Jarro handed back the datapad and looked at the Morgukai. "How are we doing with the financing issue? Neither of us will benefit if the senator's statements are released on the holonet tomorrow and people trace them to us".

He answered immediately. "I negotiated that myself. We discussed a simple physical transfer at the rendezvous point, but a two and a half million credit withdrawal would look far too suspicious. So I went to our Mr. Fenway on Coruscant and he reportedly has a contact inside the Republic stock exchange".

"Through a bit of insider information, he's determined a handful of consumer electronics companies that are about to announce losses. We pay them off, the senator invests in them and loses his money, which will act as a cover for the transfer, and the companies pay us for a nominal fee" The Morgukai finished, his sharp white teeth showing as a light grin came to his face. "It's like we were never there".

Jarro smiled and took another drink from the bottle. "Excellent job" he said, clapping the tall alien on the back and he rounded his desk. "Tell you what: you know that girl who was going to the guy on Malastare a few months back before he was shot? The lawyer..." he stuttered. "Dana something?"

The Morgukai nodded, hoping this was going where he thought. "Sari's her name. I think she's still down with the others. After you oversee the ship sent off, bring her up to your office and have a little fun with the girl, eh?" Jarro said smugly, giving the huge alien a wink.

The Morgukai nodded again, that toothy smile coming back. "Sounds like my kind of fun".

The gangster smiled and gave the tall alien a mocking punch on the shoulder, making the Morgukai chuckle a little before Jarro spoke again. "I think I'm up for something of the same. While you're calling down, tell them to get that other girl he asked for, I think her name was Raina? Have them bring her up here for me.".

Jarro leaned in a little closer for effect when he spoke into the huge alien's 'ear'. "And um, try not to take it too easy on her. We need to maintain some kind of control around here".

The Morgukai chuckled. A sound that would make children shiver. "You shouldn't have to ask me. You know me well enough for that".

The gangster smiled a smile tainted with evil before putting a little pressure on the Morgukai's shoulder and inclining him toward the door, dismissing him. The alien lumbered out of the office as Jarro adjusted the leather jacket he wore and sat back down. It was fun being cruel.

* * *

Cloud City held far too many subsections and back ended, abandoned plants for most people's liking. A great many of the gas refineries that had been utilized when the colony was first built had dropped out of use due to technological obsolescence or simple mechanical failure and nobody having the desire to fix them. The gas refining process that was the reason Cloud City was built had jumped forward quickly in the last hundred years or so and now it took a fifth of the space to make double the gas they could when the colony was first created. This left a huge number of factories and plants shut down and shut off, filled with obsolete machinery and plenty of space. Smugglers found their way in within a few years and before long, Cloud City possessed a few small criminal rings. Nowhere near the size of rings like the Black Sun or Tatooine's native gangs, but they were significant enough. Bribes and ignorance kept the police away and the criminal underworld thrived like moss on a dead log.

This plant (designated as 'offline' by the Cloud City police records) was on the larger side: it possessed a decently sized docking bay to unload its freight, which was currently abuzz. One large freighter was docked in the main port, its back loading bay open and being loaded by a variety of species and droids. As was standard business practice, larger species like Aqualish and Wookiees were used to do most of the heavy lifting, while the humans, Sullustans and Twi'leks did the rest of the work, operating the machines and such. The bay could hold up to six mid-sized freighters for its purpose, and was only partially enclosed in the factory that it was a part of, most of the docks hanging over empty space.

And up in the rafters of the bay, a figure watched silently, unmoving. The hiding place was precarious, and while that wasn't a problem, the lack of cover brought in the risk of being seen before the ideal moment.

The figure narrowed sharp eyes as the main doors opened, and a tall Morgukai warrior, dressed in mercenary garb, stepped through. It wasn't necessary to check the database: that was Brakk Jada, Jarro Sken's second-in-command and an integral being to his operation. Which would make things easier, the figure reasoned. A frown crossed the cloaked beings face when Brakk walked across the bay (after giving one of the dock workers what appeared to be a chewing out) and stopped in front of two armed Wookiees guarding what appeared to be a blank wall. He waved them down and flipped open a datapad from his pocket, punching in a few things on it. The figure watched as the wall slid back and Brakk stepped inside, vanishing from view.

It was a minute or so later before he reappeared, standing in front of a hovercart that held a tall, long black cage. The figure's frown deepened as what was inside, behind the blue bars of light, revealed itself to be five women, a Twi'leks and four humans, in shackles. Two of them were lying down, likely unconscious, and the other three were huddled together, and the figure could see even from the rafters that they were shaking with fear. And judging by their clothes, or rather, undergarments that barely concealed anything, there was probably a good reason why.

Brakk shouted orders and two humans got behind the hovercart, pushing it smoothly down a ramp and onto the main deck. They lined it up with the back of the freighter, and they were about to push it in when Brakk held up a hand and the two stopped. The figure leaned down some more, and while the Morgukai's voice was too far away to perceive, he spoke to the women in the cage before laughing heartily (with a healthy dose of cruelty) before motioning to one of the humans who had pushed the cage. The man walked up to the cart and pushed a few buttons on the datapad, deactivating the prison bars on Brakk's side, and the tall Morgukai entered the cage.

The figure still watched.

* * *

Brakk looked at the five women, standing imposingly outside the cage entrance. Only one of them looked at the tall alien, and she immediately broke eye contact and went back to shivering with the others. The Morgukai's face broke into a dark, shark-like grin filled with teeth, and he turned as the smile vanished.

"Get those three onto the ship!" he roared thunderously, maintaining his authority. "I want skids up in five minutes boys, no excuses!"

His order received, the dock went back to moving, with most of the men finishing loading the crates and boxes while a few stepped back and moved to the dock controls. Brakk turned back to the cage and stepped inside, only needing a single stride to reach the three clustered together. He looked down and stood like an obelisk of flesh before them, and finally, one looked up slowly, her dirt-covered blonde hair matted and unkempt. Brakk stared at her, their eyes communicating silently and he clearly being the superior, the dominant, between them. Then the horrible grin returned.

"Hello Sari" his bass voice almost crushed the air that carried it, and the woman shivered more than ever before, not having the strength to reply.

Brakk's fist lashed out and grabbed her hair, prompting a shriek of pain to rip from her throat as the Morgukai mercenary pulled her to her feet. He grabbed her forearm as he pulled her past the others and picked up one of the unconscious humans and threw her over his shoulder like a toy while the blonde was halfway between shouting and crying. Brakk pulled the woman from the cage as he stepped out onto the dock and turned to face the others.

"Get this freighter off and its payday, gentlemen!" the Morgukai roared. "The girls are on the chief and I tonight!" At that, laughter and whooping enveloped the dock from the men as the smugglers and mercenaries high-fived one another, before a voice cut through the noise like an icicle.

"Shame there won't be a tonight for any of you".

Brakk spun, the rest of the dock following suit, to see a woman standing on the end of the dock, a black cloak covering her form and a hood over her head. Her face was visible, and was frozen in an expression of cold hatred.

"Who are you? This is a restricted area, lady!" Brakk shouted, still holding the blonde by her forearm tightly.

"If you drop your weapons now, I promise much cleaner deaths for all of you" the woman repeated, lowering her head and the hood covering her eyes.

Brakk snarled: a death threat was a serious challenge on his homeworld, and to refuse one... well it wasn't an option. He roared, and loud, as he dropped the woman on his shoulder and threw the blonde like a toy from his grip.

"Kill her!" he shouted, a clawed hand grabbing the blaster at his hip. Simultaneously, every single dock worker drew their blasters and rifles and opened fire on the woman.

A smile crossed her lips.

Brakk growled, his teeth bared, as he pulled the trigger of his blaster over and over and over again as the black-cloaked woman actually disappeared amongst the red storm of blasterfire that flew towards her. Brakk fired over and over and over again until the gun hissed and steam released from the back, the power cell overheated, and he lowered the blaster. And as all the others ceased firing almost simultaneously, Brakk's predatory eyes bulged.

The woman stood there, her cloak parted and revealing her black garb underneath, completely unfazed. Her hood had stayed on, keeping her eyes hidden, but most prominently, her right hand was outstretched and facing her side, and in it, a purple-black hilt was clenched that emitted a beam of pure light in the shape of a blade.

"Jedi!" Brakk roared, his teeth grating as a tiny pit of nervousness in his stomach grew larger. "Take her down, NOW!". He pressed the chamber of his weapon, more steam hissing out as the blaster vented its heat, and fired again. The woman had already moved, leaping at least four meters into the air and soaring like a bird as the Force powered her jump.

She landed directly in front of the Morgukai, raising her blade to slash through his chest, but Brakk brought his bracer up just in time, and the saber blade grated against the reinforced metal. Brakk's grin was apparent: he'd lined the bracer with mandalorian iron, a lightsaber-repellent metal used by the higher-end bounty hunters, for just this kind of situation. The woman looked surprised for a moment before bringing up the blade again, aiming for his head.

Brakk ducked, spinning away and raising his weapon, aiming for her now-open head. He fired instinctively, but the bolt struck the durasteel floor without a target. Brakk didn't even have time to blink before she appeared again, the lightsaber blade rising up and slashing off the nose of his weapon cleanly. The Morgukai snarled and jumped back, drawing a vibroknife from his boot and roaring as he ran towards her. He was moving too fast to watch her narrow her eyes as she grinned.

The woman shifted her weight quickly, lowering her blade. Brakk smiled. The kill was near. And then... she wasn't there. Brakk's momentum carried him through where she had been only a second earlier and he looked around frantically for his target.

He widened his eyes and realized that'd she'd flipped over him, a nanosecond before he saw the blade of her weapon stick through his solar plexus.

Brakk gasped and growled at the same time as he felt a breath on his ear and felt her body press against his back as the saber blade pushed even deeper through his body. Her icy voice cut through his form deeper than her weapon did. "Don't worry: Jarro will be joining you soon enough", she whispered before she withdrew her weapon from his body, and before he could even fall to the ground, the woman brought her sword around and separated his head from his neck cleanly.

Brakk's fearsome head hit the durasteel floor as the rest of the gangsters on the dock looked on in horror; their fierce leader cut down. His killer stood there, her feet spread wide and her lightsaber still holding where the stroke that finished Brakk had ended. The others weren't sure whether to run or fire, maybe both. But the woman didn't intend to give them the opportunity as she looked up and raised her weapon, a grin upturning her mouth.

Forty-six seconds later, every single member of the late Brakk's crew lay in pieces on the floor of the factory loading bay. The woman stood over the body of a Rodian, his lizard-like eyes staring hazily at the ceiling and his left arm laying two meters away from him, and she scoffed once before stepping over the body and walking back to Brakk's corpse. The slave cage was still sitting there, the three women inside(now all awake) looking at her with fear on their faces. The two humans, the raven-haired one and the blonde one, were sitting against one of the crates, their eyes riveted on this warrior lady.

The black-cloaked woman didn't even blink before raising her hand, focusing on the rivets that held the cage door on and feeling the Force's familiarity flow over her like a wave of power. A second later, the cage door began to move before its channeler focused harder, and there was a terrible tearing sound as the durasteel of the cage door was shredded like paper. The door flew off the hinges, now in pieces, and landed behind with a clang, while she stood there, a vaguely smug look on her face.

The women inside weren't sure how to feel. Was this mysterious, lightsaber-wielder setting them free, or killing them too? The woman stepped inside the cage, still a great deal of power in her stride, and looked at them with a shine that was indiscernible in her eyes. They were about to speak when the woman reached out with a black-gloved hand.

"Get up: you're free now" she said in a simple, elegant voice.

The girl in front, a young Twi'lek, reached up and took the hand slowly. The woman helped her to her feet and the others shakily stood up as well, cautiously walking out of the cage like caged beasts that weren't sure if this was a trap or not. The cloaked warrior put her arm around the Twi'lek and walked out of the hovercage, the other two humans outside slowly using the boxes for support as they got to their feet.

"One moment" the woman said before sliding away from the barely-adult Twi'lek girl and stepping past the hovercage. She stepped into the loaded freighter and closed her eyes, the Force flowing through her again, and touched each sealed crate. A second later, she raised her hand and a box closer to the back moved slowly off the other ones and floated gracefully through the air towards her.

The stranger walked out of the freighter, the floating box following the movements of her hand like a ghostly puppet, and set it down close to the former slaves. A quick touch of the Force was all that was necessary to rip off the lid as the woman peered inside and withdrew some very elaborate garb, clearly meant for nobles.

"Here, put these on" she said, tossing them each a piece of clothing. Each woman picked up the clothes and held them bundled in their arms.

"That freighter has lightspeed capacity. I'm sure one of you could fly it without much trouble" the woman said sternly. "Get yourselves off Bespin and go home, wherever that is. They won't come after you".

The five moved slowly away from their rescuer, nobody saying anything, and headed toward the freighter ship's cockpit slowly. The woman watched them as they walked away before she looked at the headless body of Brakk. She was tempted to spit on it for his crimes. And at that moment, an idea crossed through her mind.

"One moment" she spoke smoothly and looked up, and the black-haired girl turned slowly, the clothes in her arms and her eyes still in a state of shock. "I need your help".

* * *

Jalian stepped off the elevator, looking around Port Town. He was amazed how this entire area avoided the scrutiny of the Cloud City Patrol: it was massive. The entire area was nothing but loading bays and docks, stretching down over at least twenty levels that hung over the orange-red clouds of Bespin, each of which held its own docks. And from what he heard from Republic Security, these ports brought in about 6% of the Outer Rim's criminal GDP every year.

Colossal buildings, easily as big as those in Coruscant, made up the walls of Port Town, no doubt hideouts for gangs, bounty hunters and other undesirables. It wouldn't be easy to find his target in all this chaos, but as long as he knew where to look...

Jalian closed his sapphire eyes and tapped into the Force, reaching out with it and sensing the area around him. He felt the auras of all the various people, human and alien, around him, and he felt a slight trace of that aura: where they had been recently. The Jedi Master followed his feelings, probing deeper into the Force, and he saw it: her trail. It was faint, she had been here hours ago, but it was there, like a fading bell tone reverberating through the fabric of existence.

Jalian opened his eyes, the Force flowing through him and guiding him. He saw her trail as a slight shimmer in the air, and he watched it move down to one of the docks briefly before heading into one of the larger buildings with a cantina sign outside of it. Jalian briefly sighed: he'd had his fair share of cantinas back on Tatooine. But there was nothing for it. He walked towards the door.

A quick wave of his hand permitted him entry from the guards and Jalian looked around, his hood raised. It was raunchy, even for a cantina. Twi'lek and human girls (by far, the two most trafficked species) were giving lap dances to various patrons, one even going so far as to suck on the breasts of one of the Twi'leks, prompting a clearly fake moan from the alien slave. Jalian felt sickened, but it would be far too risky and dangerous to act in an open space.

He rapped on the cantina bar twice, the Falleen bartender turning to face him. "What can I get 'cha, bud?" he asked in a slick tone that sounded like it was almost built for those with a silver tongue.

"I'm looking for a woman who came in here earlier today" Jalian replied, keeping his voice neutral. "About 1.7 meters tall, probably wearing a black cloak with a hood. Likely not very talkative".

The green-skinned alien rubbed his chin and minor goatee for a moment. "You know I think I did see your girl. Walked through here and didn't even look at anythin' else. All I can say pal".

Jalian frowned. "There's more, then?"

The Falleen shrugged. "I've already told you that your girl was here, bud. Anythin' else I know is in the prerogative of my employer, and he don't like unannounced guests".

Jalian lowered his hood, letting his sapphire eyes strike the Falleen's passive, red ones. "Then take me to him and I'll explain my situation".

The bartender snorted, catching a glass that another patron threw at him and filling it up while speaking to Jalian. "Can't help you there. Nobody speaks to the chief without an appointment, and it doesn't look like you've got one".

Jalian swore in his head: mind tricks wouldn't work on the Falleen, so he'd need to do this the old fashioned way. "I'm on business as a matter of Republic Security, and I can assure you that I'm on a ticking clock. I need to see your boss, and I need to see him now".

The Falleen opened his mouth to speak, but Jalian cut him off. "And if you don't permit me to see him, then I'll simply force my way upstairs, but none of us want that situation, so I'm giving you the choice of whether or not it will become reality".

The Falleen at this point noticed that Jalian had positioned his hand on his waist so that his robe parted and clearly revealed his lightsaber. "Um... tell you what: I'll call you in and maybe I can get you five minutes with the boss. Sound good?"

Jalian smiled cordially and stood up straight again "Excellent. I appreciate your help".

The Fallen pulled out a datapad and pushed a few buttons for a moment. A minute later, the pad beeped and the green-skinned alien looked at it, nodding. "Alright, take the elevator to the top floor. Last door at the end of the hall".

Jalian nodded and walked into the elevator at the bar of the cantina, ignoring the patrons and slaves who were engaging in everything carnal around him. The box rocketed up over thirty floors to reach the top, and Jalian walked down the hall, escorted by two wookiees armed with blaster rifles, to the room at the end, guarded by a tall, dark-skinned guard. He pushed open the doors and Jalian entered.

He found himself in a large apartment, and the furred guards followed him in. He walked forward with the wookiees and soon saw a man sitting at a desk, typing onto a computer quickly and surrounded by screens, clearly the leader.

The man looked up and smiled politely. "Master Jedi. I'm afraid I was only made aware of you coming a moment ago, so forgive my impoliteness. May I-"

"Stop trying to con me with your silver tongue, Sual" Jalian said impatiently, lowering his hood. "I know full well who you are and what you're capable of, so don't try to play nice with me and cut through the nonsense."

The infamous gangster smiled knowingly, raising his hands. "Fair enough" he paced around his desk, looking at the Jedi dead in the face. "I presume you're looking for Kara: she's the only one I'd imagine that you'd be interested in".

Jalian nodded, to which William reciprocated. "Unfortunately you missed her by a couple hours. I sent her on an errand to negotiate with one of my business partners regarding a shipment of spice outbound from Malastare".

Jalian nodded stiffly. "Can I ask why you sent her on this errand?"

William shrugged. "Let's just say she owed me a favour from way back" He walked back around his desk, retaking his seat. "She's due back later on, but I'd be happy to let her know that you came calling".

Jalian thought for a moment and nodded before answering. "That would be most appreciated, I thank you". He turned to leave for a moment before turning back, preparing to show his hand. "One more question: Why did you think Kara would be best suited for this negotiation task?".

"As I understand it, negotiation is one of the Jedi's specialities. Am I incorrect?" William smiled, asking the question he full well knew the answer to. Jalian frowned, his trap complete.

"That's strange, because Kara isn't a member of the Jedi Order".

William's face immediately shifted from smug and smooth to confused, and then agitated. Jalian's eyes pierced his clear as day, and he saw through the lie immediately. William acted fast, standing up and pointing at him with as stern an expression as he could muster. "Kill him" he addressed the two Wookiees.

Jalian's sapphire blade was out and spinning behind him before the blaster bolts reached him, deflecting them at three screens around the office cleanly. With the Force shining within him, Jalian threw out his hand, tossing one of the wookiees back like a ragdoll and sending him through a wall. The other one kept firing his blaster rifle, trying to get through the Jedi's defense.

The effort was futile. Jalian knocked away every shot cleanly and after one of the attacker's barrages was exhausted, Jalian turned his swing into a forward roll that brought him, and his lightsaber, directly in front of the furred alien. The sapphire blade cut the rifle in two with a quick uppercut, and its wielder brought the blade around with a quick spin, cleanly cutting through the wookiee's chest.

Jalian felt the wobble in the Force a second before William Sual's hidden blaster pistol fired at his head. The Jedi Master dove to the side, bringing his weapon up and deflecting the other three shots aimed at his new position. The gangster kept shooting the weapon, a look of fury and desperation on his face. But Jalian didn't let a single shot through. His lightsaber form made the repelling of William's attack look like a dance of power and not a battle style.

William felt the blaster hiss as its battery pack ran out, and he slammed a button on the holocomputer. A microsecond later, red lights around the apartment flared brightly and an alarm blared. Jalian made his play then, and sheathed his lightsaber, sprinting towards the gangster. Sual saw the Jedi, who was pressing a few buttons on his bracer while running towards him, and frantically tried to vent the blaster, slapping its safety hard and pulling back on the chamber, but the Jedi got to him first. Jalian grabbed onto Sual's midsection and kept running, sending them both crashing through the glass of the office and out of the building.


End file.
